Having obtained everything she wanted, there was no need to wait around for the Hundred Flowers Sect auction in a few days. Shi Yu immediately decided to set off and continue their journey that night.
Escorted personally by Young Sect Master Hua Qingrui, the four left the Hundred Flowers Sect mountain gate. After bidding her farewell, they headed down the mountain.
Along the way, Ji Yu patted his belly with a satisfied look. “The Hundred Flowers Feast at the Hundred Flowers Sect was so delicious! I wish I could eat it every day.”
Shi Yu smiled gently and teased, “If you like it so much, why not stay behind? Then you could eat it every day. From what I saw, those senior sisters took a great liking to you.”
At the banquet earlier, delicacy after delicacy made with spirit flowers emitted mouthwatering aromas, exquisitely prepared and alluring. Ji Yu’s eyes had shone as he stuffed his face, his cheeks puffed up non-stop.
Because he was quite handsome, his voracious appetite didn't annoy anyone; instead, it drew bursts of soft chuckles behind fluttering sleeves. The gentle serving maids never stopped moving their chopsticks, dotingly piling food onto his plate—a treatment that could easily make anyone linger without thought of leaving.
Unexpectedly, the boy shook his head with an air of composure and trotted cheerfully behind Shi Yu. “The Hundred Flowers Feast is great, but eating it every day would eventually get boring. It’s still better to follow you, Sister! With Brother Qingzhou cooking up new dishes every day—pan-frying, stir-frying, deep-frying, and boiling—that’s what I’ll never grow tired of.”
Shi Yu glanced at him. “Always so quick with sweet talk.”
The mountain path was intricate and winding. Passing through a grove of spirit flowers, they reached a narrow passage along a remote cliff wall. Shi Yu suddenly stopped in her tracks. Without turning around, she pulled Ji Yu closer and exchanged a glance with Qingzhou and Mo Tong before shouting coldly, “Who’s lurking back there? Come out!”
Her words rolled out imbued with divine sense. As her voice fell, two figures tumbled out from behind the cliff wall with agonizing wails.
Clutching their heads, blood streaming from their noses, they looked to be in excruciating pain.
Shi Yu had injured the unguarded duo merely by projecting her divine sense.
Because she studied all four auxiliary arts—artifacts, alchemy, formations, and talismans—her divine sense underwent constant consumption and recovery. This relentless tempering made her soul and divine sense inherently stronger than those of cultivators at the same realm. Furthermore, she cultivated the 《Soul Tempering Art》, an exceedingly rare technique for strengthening the soul, rendering her soul exceptionally formidable.
Although she had only recently entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, in terms of soul strength, she was in no way inferior to mid or late Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.
The two who had tumbled out were also newly established Foundation Establishment cultivators, their aura still somewhat unstable. After suffering Shi Yu’s mental strike, their already precarious cultivation realm tottered even more dangerously.
Shi Yu ignored the two men. Turning her head slightly, she directed a cold, piercing gaze into the distance and spoke, “Your Excellency has laid an ambush here, so why refrain from showing yourself?”
Apart from the rustling of falling petals and leaves, the distance remained dead silent.
Shi Yu gave a faint chuckle. “Alchemist Hu, hiding your head and showing your tail like this lacks style, doesn't it?”
She had only arrived in Hundred Flowers City recently. If she had offended anyone who would go out of their way to ambush her here, it could only be Alchemist Hu.
“Very well, since you refuse to reveal yourself—”
Shi Yu’s gaze turned razor-sharp in an instant. With a flip of her hand, the Yinhuang Bow appeared firmly in her grasp.
She drew the bowstring back. A faint radiant glow shimmered across the bow as countless red-gold runes flickered along its frame. Tiny sparks ignited upon the string, rapidly condensing into an illusory long arrow. The surrounding space faintly warped around the arrow's presence.
Hiding far behind the cliff wall, Alchemist Hu sensed the lethal threat emanating from the arrow. His face turned livid, yet he still put on a brave front and barked viciously, “Hmph! You humiliated me and ruined my plans—today, I’ll make sure you all lose your lives right here!”
Though his words were fierce, he executed his movement technique at top speed, darting off to the side.
The two Foundation Establishment accomplices, having caught their breath by now, scrambled over to join Alchemist Hu. Standing together, the trio managed to regain a bit of confidence.
Yet Alchemist Hu was secretly groaning in dismay. Having been intercepted by Shi Yu back at the Hundred Flowers Sect, he harbored immense hatred. Coveting the vast rewards promised by Hua Qingrui, he had planned to lie in ambush and eliminate them. It would satisfy his grudge and net him immense treasures without extra effort—a win-win scenario, or so he thought.
His cultivation realm was higher than Shi Yu’s, being a mid Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Judging Shi Yu and her companions to be newly established Foundation Establishment cultivators accompanied by a low-cultivation child, he assumed they posed little threat and that he could handle them alone. Still, to be safe, he had brought along two helpers. He thought success was guaranteed, but he had lost the upper hand the moment they clashed.
This wench's soul is actually so strong... Cursing inwardly, a trace of retreat began to form in his mind. Alchemist Hu sneered, “Fellow Daoist, you and your companions have only just entered the Foundation Establishment Realm. Do you truly believe you can defeat a mid Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator?”
Shi Yu had always lived by the principle of not provoking others unless provoked. Since Alchemist Hu harbored intent to murder and rob, she would certainly not let him off. “Others might not be able to, but against trash like you, it’s more than enough!”
With that, her fingers released the bowstring, sending the Yinhuang arrow flying.
“How arrogant!” Alchemist Hu was already on guard during their exchange. Despite his rage, he did not panic. With a wide sweep of his sleeve, a banner flew out from his robe. Expanding rapidly with the wind, it swelled to tens of feet wide in midair. Howling winds surged around it, making the sky itself appear to darken.
Affected by the banner's aura, the unstoppable momentum of the Yinhuang arrow was halted. The arrow wobbled, stalemating with the banner for a few breath's time, before its radiant light dissolved into nothingness.
Enveloped beneath the towering banner, Shi Yu and her companions felt the spiritual Qi in their bodies slow down, their movements constrained, and their combat strength significantly suppressed.
Seeing this, the two uneasy accomplices beside Alchemist Hu settled their minds. Exchanging glances, they charged forward together, aiming first for Ji Yu, whose cultivation was the weakest.
Unexpectedly, Ji Yu’s footwork was subtle and profound. With a few shifts, he dodged the attack like a slippery loach, grabbing onto Shi Yu's back while sticking out his tongue provocatively. Beside them, Qingzhou and Mo Tong each engaged one of the attackers in combat.
Above them, the long banner hovered overhead, releasing a hazy mist that blanketed the entire area. Shi Yu narrowed her eyes at the banner and flicked her fingers, imprinting her innate divine ability—the Divine Phoenix Seal—onto her companions.
“What is that?!” Seeing a few red-gold spots of light spring from Shi Yu's fingers, Alchemist Hu couldn't see them clearly. But then he saw that the group, previously constrained by his banner, instantly recovered a great deal of their strength. Astounded, he hastily channeled his spiritual energy, pouring it incessantly into the banner.
Shi Yu let out a soft snort and tossed the Yinhuang Bow into the air. Expanding with the wind, the bow grew several times larger in an instant.
Having already mastered the first three transformations of 《Six Transformations of Fire Chanting》, flames surged around her feet. With a single leap, she teleports directly in front of the floating Yinhuang Bow in midair.
Channeling her spiritual energy, profound light gathered before her, condensing into a giant hand made of fire.
Sensing danger, Alchemist Hu moved to stop her, but two long water-serpents suddenly slithered from his sides, winding around his feet and halting his advance.
Cursing aloud, he turned his head, his pupils shrinking in shock—the two companions who had been fighting the young men were already dead, breathless on the ground.
Looking back, in the brief moment he was delayed, the giant fiery hand had pulled the bowstring wide. A red-gold arrow of light, a full ten feet long, hurtled toward the banner with the momentum of a shooting star shattering all lower magic.
Whew— The sound of tearing air echoed far and wide.
The long banner shuddered violently, its mist vanishing in an instant. Its spiritual radiance dimmed severely, leaving it looking battered and feeble.
“Pfft!” The Spirit-Suppressing Banner was Alchemist Hu's natal magic treasure. Suffering this damage, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Only now did Alchemist Hu realize he had run into a formidable foe. Filled with regret, he hurriedly begged for mercy, “Don’t kill me! I—”
Before he could finish his sentence, a thin thread of water sliced past. Wide-eyed, he clutched his throat and collapsed backward with a thud.
The residual water vapor in the air refracted a shimmering rainbow.
Qingzhou looked at him indifferently and walked to Shi Yu’s side.
Shi Yu was flustered, letting out the Seven-Color Luan from the Fate-Tapping Bell, which was fluttering wildly in excitement. “It’s already over, there’s nothing left for you.”
Little Seven circled around Shi Yu. Its long, seven-colored tail feathers intertwined with the rainbow, creating a charming scene. Its bean-sized eyes blinked, looking somewhat aggrieved.
The Luan possessed noble bloodline. Though extraordinarily beautiful, it was by no means a bird meant merely for display. Sensing the battle while inside the Fate-Tapping Bell, it had wanted to come out and help, but the battle had ended far too quickly for it to take part.
Connected to its mind, Shi Yu understood the little bird’s chirping complaints and offered a few comforting words with a smile.
In his dying moments, Alchemist Hu stared at the Seven-Color Luan, his lips moving as he mouthed soundlessly, “You... you are that—”
He was not from Changyuan Prefecture, but he lived close enough to have heard about the grand alchemy competition in Hengze Prefecture. The young girl who had won first place was said to be accompanied by a rare Seven-Color Luan...
Regretting that he had provoked such a person, he let out a couple of rattles from his throat before breathing his last.
Ji Yu sucked in a sharp breath, stealing an awestruck glance at Qingzhou. He trotted forward cheerfully to rummage through the three corpses, taking their storage rings and other valuables.
Rate on N.U.
